The invention relates to improved equipment and methods for aiding anglers in selecting lures and lengths of line to position lures at a particular depth in the water column.
Over time anglers have used a variety of methods to determine how much line would be needed to be let out while trolling or casting in order for a lure to reach a particular running depth. In the past, the only method available to anglers to know how deep a lure was running was instinct. Angle marked fishing line at increments of length and let lures out until they felt the lures hitting bottom. In this case, there were a number of variables (e.g. line diameter, trolling speed) that caused inaccuracies.
In the mid 1980's, line counter reels were developed by fishing reel manufacturers that fairly accurately and repeatedly allowed anglers to let out the same amount of line time after time. The invention of line counter reels allowed the average angler to easily know how much line had been let out. Around the same time period, many anglers began trolling arid casting for fish that were not bottom oriented. Anglers found that placing lures at a particular depth somewhere in the water column required, at minimum, a knowledge of an amount of line out and the running depth of a particular lure at that amount of line out. This knowledge was more difficult to ascertain than simply letting line out until a lure bounced bottom. Some anglers set about recording information regarding amount of line out and a related depth for a particular lure. This information was manually collected by running lures into the bottom and recording the variables involved, specifically line out.
By the early 1990's, the need for accurate data on lure running depths became apparent. Professional angler Mike McClelland, from Pierre, S. Dak., measured lure running depths by a method of tying two boats together with a 120 foot rope. The first boat held one person with a fishing rod and linecounter reel and various lures. The second boat was equipped with a sonar unit. The method of measurement involved the first boat (containing the rod and reel with a fishing lure) towing the second boat with someone operating the sonar unit. The person in the first boat would let out 120 feet of fishing line and allow the lure to achieve its natural running depth, while the sonar operator in the second boat recorded actual running depths of the lure in question based on the sonar reading. The information collected was then compiled on a circular wheel-like laminated paper disc with lure types serving as the spokes of the wheel and a running depth at the ends of the spokes. This was the first commercially produced system available for anglers that gave pertinent information about running depths of lures based on a particular line out length.
The product available from McClelland did not include information beyond a running depth at one length of line, only covered a small portion of commercially produced lure types, and lacked information about running depth based on other variables (e.g. speed).
In the mid 1990's another commercial product, Precision Trolling, was produced with more lure types and in the format of a book. This book contained data presented one lure per page. Each page contained a diagram containing an X axis and Y axis and a corresponding “dive curve” algorithm for the lure on the page. The data had been collected by trolling lures past a pole placed in the water and marked at various depths. A diver recorded depths relative to different amounts of line out. This level of data was an improvement on the prior product from McClelland. The Precision Trolling book also contained written information addressing other variables associated with lure running depths, including line diameter, weights systems and speed. Over the next ten years, as new lures were developed and manufactured, the Precision Trolling book went through several updates to include information on these new lures. Currently the book is in its 7th edition.
In 2002, the makers of precision Trolling created similar data for lures based on casting of lures as opposed to trolling. The data is presented in a similar book format including algorithms displayed for a particular lure on each page.
Over time various methods for determining lure depth based on line length and other variables have been developed ranging from instinct, casual recording, and commercially produced products that have displayed print data as either one lure with one line length and corresponding depth (McClelland) or as an algorithm on a graph displaying line out on one axis and running depth on the other.
All of the methods used to date have been either incomplete in the variables accounted for or cumbersome for the angler to use. As an example, when using the current best and most accurate method of determining lure depths (Precision Trolling), the angler must first retrieve the book from some waterproof compartment in the boat. The book is something the angler is not currently using in the angling process. Second, the angler must know which lure to look for in the book and flip through the book until the lure is found. Finally, the angler is required to read and interpret the algorithm to determine how much line should be let out for the lure to achieve the desired depth. In addition, while data is available in diagram form regarding the effect of other variables (speed, line diameters, weight systems) the angler is required to take yet another step to determine lure depth based on the variables affecting the angler's lure choice.
There is a need for a product that simplifies the process by which data is received by anglers, while minimizing the problem of variables involved in each unique angling situation.